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Joseph D. Carrier - 'I Am My Brother's Keeper'
By Catherine Smyth page 1 | page 2 | page 3 | page 4 | page 5
(This article appeared in a publication called Elegance on November 1, 1987)
Some people command attention the minute they walk into a room: Conversation drops, heads swivel, waiters swarm. It's that way with Joe Carrier. At Boccaccio Ristorante located at Columbus Centre, a cultural, recreational and social hangout for Italo-Canadians where he frequently lunches, everyone knows him.
It's 30 degrees outside, but Carrier, head of Carrier Development Corporation, looks as though he's just stepped out of a bandbox. A well-cut, three piece navy gabardine suit, his Panama hat in hand and shirt front gleaming white, gives him an air of distinction. Plus tanned features and a mane of white, wavy hair.
He'd be a casting director's dream for the role of an elder statesman or senior diplomat from a Latin country. And the "diplomat" connection would extend to his personal life, too, for Joe Carrier has helped thousands of affluent Italo-Canadians (and others, too) from their money in aid of worthwhile community causes. And they've smiled as they paid up since they know Carrier himself has always been the first to give.
His manner is gracious but not condescending as he orders a martini "very, very dry" for lunch, sole preceded by soup. Then "no" he says, "on second thought, instead of soup bring me a bowl of steamed mussels." Carrier's hearty appetite is matched by a zest for living that has sustained him through 77 years as: Immigrant child, shoeshine boy, newspaper vendor, shoemaker, union leader, footwear tycoon, real estate developer, fundraiser and philanthropist.
At Boccaccio friends walk over to shake his hand then return to their tables to remark to their guests: "That's Joe Carrier. He just gave a million dollars to this place."
They're referring to the fact that last May, the mini-gallery that Columbus Centre used for small art shows had, through his generosity, become the Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery. Most of the million dollars will go toward necessary enlargement, environmental and security alterations to make the installation eligible for classification as a public gallery by the Ontario Association of Art Galleries. [ cont'd ] >>
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